Foolish Earth Creatures: July 2025
Attention, blog readers! The first phase of my master plan is almost complete!
Right now I've got a nearly complete first draft of the first act of the story, from Vorak's arrival to the resolution of the first battle between him and the hero. Once I've finished this first act I'm going to take a step back and assess what I've done so far to see if I need to change my approach. I'm also planning to ask for a few playtesters from among this blog's readers, to get some people's initial impressions.
This is kind of an awkward and frustrating stage of the project, because I can already see a lot of ways I'll need to rewrite what I've done so far, but I think it's important to finish the first act with my current approach so I have something complete to assess. Only a few more passages to go!
I think I'm getting the hang of the specific writing style and voice needed for this game. It's sometimes tricky writing text that's simultaneously a useful description of the situation the hero is in, and also a conversation between the hero and villain, but if I think if I can get it right I'll have a game that's pretty fun and unique.
Also this month I've added support for background images! Each chapter of the story will have its own background image that establishes the setting and mood. The amount of the background you see will vary greatly based on your screen size/shape, so the background are only to establish mood, never to give information that would inform your decisions.
Right now I'm using stock art from Pixabay that I've turned black and white, but for the finished game I'll commission some artwork. I'm still considering how colourful the game overall should be, since the works that inspired it include both black and white movie serials and vibrantly colourful comic books. Right now I'm thinking Vorak's face (which is currently black and white) will be in colour, but the background will either be black and white or very subdued colour.
That's all for this diary, but I'll put out a call for playtesters on this blog in a week or two.
Can our hero get something ready for playtesters, and if so, what will they think? Learn more in next month's thrilling dev diary!